For those of you who engage in the pinnacle of silliness and double entendre that is a Facebook "poke" war, a time of reckoning has come. The Poke button has been quietly hidden by the powers-that-be in Palo Alto, Calif.

Of course, it's still possible to poke--the feature's just been hidden away in a drop-down under that little gear icon in the upper right corner of your friends' profile pages.

How far are you willing to go to Poke?
Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET

So how much does poking mean to you? Is that inane tradition of poking your old college buddy every time the Broncos score a touchdown worth the extra click?

The banishment comes amid some big changes at Facebook. In recent weeks, the social network has rolled out subscriptions and smart lists, and there are reports that later this week, a complete overhaul to profiles will be unveiled at the f8 developers conference.

So it could be that pokes are getting hidden to make way for new functions, but aren't we all surprised that a feature that tends to be used primarily as a tool for irony and/or harassment has even lasted this long? Let's just hope it isn't being relocated to make room for a new "spank" feature.

About the author

Crave freelancer Eric Mack is a writer, radio producer, and podcaster based in Taos, N.M., but he lives in Google+. He's also managing editor of Crowdsourcing.org and has written e-books on both Alaska and Android. E-mail Eric.
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